The world is anxiously waiting for the College of Cardinals to select the next Bishop of Rome, especially the planet’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. The faithful have good reason to be anxious: After all, the new pope will have to address a number of polarizing issues within the Catholic Church.

In addition to the challenges of ecclesiastical governance, however, there also exists an opportunity for the next pope to address an issue affecting the entire world community, both Catholics and non-Catholics alike: the urgent threat of climate change.

The destructive impact of climate change has been felt not only in the United States through droughts and floods and sea level rise, but also in communities around the world. The science suggests that its effects will only worsen, intensifying the hardships experienced by the poor and vulnerable. In the midst of this global crisis, the next pope is poised to become a key voice on the issue of climate change by helping the international community find solutions to the climate crisis.

The compulsion for the pope to act on climate change isn’t just based in science. It’s also rooted in theology: Catholic teaching insists that believers put the poor and vulnerable first, and inaction to save the most susceptible is considered immoral. Indeed, it has been 13 years since Pope John Paul II gave his 1990 World Day of Peace Message, saying:

“[A]n adequate solution cannot be found merely in a better management or a more rational use of the earth’s resources, as important as these may be. Rather, we must go to the source of the problem and face in its entirety that profound moral crisis of which the destruction of the environment is only one troubling aspect…

The ecological crisis reveals the urgent moral need for a new solidarity, especially in relations between the developing nations and those that are highly industrialized… I wish to repeat that the ecological crisis is a moral issue.”

Pope John Paul II’s words were more than just a symbolic prayer: both he and Pope Benedict XVI used their position and the power of the Vatican to elevate the moral case for action on climate change.

The Vatican also released a report on climate issues in 2011, commissioned by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The report, “Fate of Mountain Glaciers in the Anthropocene,” showed the impact humans have had on the retreat of mountain glaciers as a result of climate change – as well as a list of proposed recommendations.

These are great strides in helping bring awareness to climate change and the impacts it will have on the poor and vulnerable. But there is much more to do: The next pope should not only continue to voice concern about this critical issue but also begin working with world leaders to bring about lasting solutions to stabilize the earth’s dangerously precarious climate.

Climate change could claim the lives of tens of millions of people by 2030, a report from DARA International Climate concludes. Climate change already contributes to “400,000 deaths on average each year,” mainly due to “hunger and communicable diseases that affect above all children in developing countries,” while “an estimated 4.5 million deaths each year [are] linked to air pollution, hazardous occupations and cancer.”

The impacts of climate change have already started to ignite conflicts around the world by causing food shortages, driving people to migrate internally or internationally, and consequently exacerbating existing conflicts and political instability. The Center for American Progress’s Climate, Migration, and Security Project examines the intersections of climate change, environmental degradation, migration, and conflicts throughout the world.

Popes are often discussed in terms of legacy: People remember pontiffs who tackle big issues and overcome daunting challenges. The soon to be elected Bishop of Rome has the chance to be remembered for many things, one of which must be his actions on helping the international community establish a long-term energy strategy that ensures energy security, protects human health and the environment.

Matt Kasper is a Special Assistant for the Energy Policy team at the Center for American Progress. Jack Jenkins is a Writer and Researcher for the Center for American Progress Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative.

If the Catholic Church doesn’t tackle human over population, it won’t matter how ‘green’ the next pope is. Today’s (and tomorrow’s) carbon problem is merely the result of over population. If human population had remained below one billion, we wouldn’t be here worrying about too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, no matter what standard of living the one billion lived at.

You’re not suggesting what I think you are suggesting, are you?
If so, perhaps you should lead the charge to oblivion? Or would that not be “within reason”?
I think you would disagree so, I presume you expect to be on the board deciding who should procreate (and, dare I say, choose who to eliminate)?
Humans, as with other animals of this planet, will find their “level” without others deciding for them.
The proof is already apparent in North America. As societies become more affluent and educated, their numbers decrease.
What you are suggesting ignores the fact that, in third world societies, adults depend on their offspring to maintain them in their twilight years (not the government) so, it behooves them to have as many children as possible because many of those children might die first!

The demographic transition will only occur if there is a radical redistribution of wealth to the many, from the hyper-parasitic few. This requires the end of, not merely the ‘reform’ of, capitalism. In the meantime, the over-consumption of what is left of the ‘rich’ world, and the luxury consumption of the insatiable rich, does far more harm to the planet’s biospheres than the subsistence consumption of the masses of the poor.